Worcestershire newcomer Tom Hinley has played a key role in the National Counties X1 representing England retaining the Dream 11 T10 European Cricket Championship title in Malaga.
The leg spinner, who recently signed his first rookie contract with Worcestershire, made important contributions in the Qualifier and Final, both against the Netherlands.
Hinley returned 2-22 and struck an unbeaten 33 in the seven wicket success in the Qualifier after England had chased down a 148 target.
He then picked up a further two wickets in the final, dismissing Sikander Zulfiqar with his first delivery and then sending back Musa Ahmad.
Hinley, who plays National Counties cricket for Oxfordshire, ended with 2-25 and there were also two wickets for Herefordshire’s Sam Keeling-Wright who played for Worcestershire Seconds last summer.
England scored 159-3 and then restricted Netherlands to 125-8.
Worcestershire Assistant Coach Richard Jones admits he is excited by the potential of Hinley after first spotting him in the nets at Loughborough University.
He impressed sufficiently in the Metro Bank One Day Cup to earn the rookie contract after initially making his mark for the Seconds in T20 cricket.
Hinley picked up five wickets against Durham and 13 in total and formed an effective partnership with on loan spinner Fateh Singh in helping Worcestershire reach the quarter-finals.
His performances were all the more impressive considering he was predominantly a batter at Sussex and has only been concentrating on his spinning skills for the past two years.
Jones had been undertaking his Level 4 coaching at Loughborough when Hinley first came to his attention and he oversaw his performances in the Seconds and then while assisting for the One Day Cup.
He said: “I think he has got a lot of potential. There aren’t many left arm leg spinners around the country at all.
“The fact he is a strong batter who can offer runs down the order is also a big plus. We saw what he can do with the bat against Lancashire when he got us back into the game, and into a position where we should have ultimately won it.
“He is also a capable fielder who is only going to get better the more he trains. It’s worth noting that he has not been playing as a spinner as his main skill for that long.
“When he was at Sussex, he was mainly a batter. For an equivalent spinner of his age he is probably a little bit behind in terms of his development, which is encouraging considering how well he did for us this year.
“We saw how effective he was during the 50-over campaign, where he finished as the second highest wicket-taking leg spinner in the competition.
“In T20 cricket for the Second team he was very effective. He proved to be an aggressive option for the captain, regularly taking wickets with a really healthy strike rate.”
Jones added: “The way he is going to become a more effective four-day bowler is to improve his control of length with the red ball. Doing that as a leg-spinner is one of the hardest skills in the game but he has shown a real desire to improve that side of his game already.
“He is an exciting prospect for us and fills a gap in our squad in terms of being an attacking spinner but also a left armer and a left-handed batter. He brings a lot to us and I’m excited to see him develop over the next 12 months.”